The community partner editorial: a public relations strategy.

Congratulations! You have just become the chief law enforcement officer for your agency. You possess a highly trained, technically proficient complement of sworn officers, as well as an exceptional civilian support staff. However, you must address a significant challenge. For the past several years, your department often has been criticized as aloof, uncaring, and out of touch with community concerns. In response, you want to cultivate a more positive image with your citizenry.

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As a relatively new police chief, I faced a very similar situation. While I do not pretend to offer a magic solution for all of your agency's problems, I have developed and employed a somewhat unique, proactive strategy that has proven effective in its first 2 years of use. As my agency has done, your department also can work with your local print media to implement this technique--the community partner editorial--and enjoy the benefits it offers.

IDENTIFYING THE STRATEGY

The community partner editorial is a pair of companion pieces written to address the same topic of concern. As the chief law enforcement officer in your community, you should plan to serve as the primary author in these pairings. Depending on the size and layout of your local newspaper, you likely will have 500 to 750 words to address a topic that you have identified as a relevant community concern. The second editorial, of roughly equal size, will be written by another author willing to participate. This individual may be any appropriate community stakeholder, although you usually will find that higher-profile persons (e.g., a prominent business owner or director of a community service program) will prove more effective. This partnership results in a highly visible pair of related editorials, from both a local law enforcement and a supporting community entity, that will address a topic of public concern in an organized, concerted fashion.

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GETTING IT ESTABLISHED

To employ this strategy, you must actively seek out and gain cooperation from the local newspaper. Issues relating to the police, crime, and public safety are of paramount concern in any community and often provide a significant amount of a daily newspaper's coverage. And, you need to remember that both the media and the police must cultivate a positive relationship; each entity thrives on this partnership. As such, you may find the staff of your local newspaper quite flexible when approached with a new idea.

As a chief or sheriff who wishes to employ this strategy, you should request to meet with the publisher or editorial board. You must be willing to acknowledge some of your department's past shortcomings, particularly in the area of public communication. Once they become convinced of your sincerity in wanting to make necessary improvements, ask them to provide you with space for a periodic guest editorial so that you may address issues of public safety and community concern. If the newspaper responds favorably, take the extra step and ask for a double editorial slot, explaining that you wish to include companion pieces in support of your own editorials. Be sure to add that you will work with your participating partners to ensure the coordinated, timely submission of both pieces.

When I had such a meeting with my local newspaper's editorial board, I was very open in discussing my motivations. I expressed that many people in the community had voiced concerns over a perceived disconnect with their police department and that I wanted to try to improve this relationship. Further, I explained that the visible pairing of these editorials would graphically illustrate that my agency was listening to and working with other stakeholders. This message represented a vital part of our overall corrective strategy. Fortunately, the editorial staff was cooperative and willing to indulge this request.

PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE

After gaining the cooperation of the local newspaper, you then can start identifying topics--most likely one per month--that need to be addressed within your community. At times, as in the wake of a natural disaster or in the aftermath of a noteworthy criminal incident, these subjects may prove obvious. Or, perhaps, a slow pace of events in your community may allow you the luxury of using this process as a proactive planning tool. Also, as is the norm with most chiefs and sheriffs, you likely participate in countless meetings and serve on numerous advisory boards. Topics of concern and discussion that have arisen on these occasions can provide excellent source material for these newspaper editorials.

However, you also should remain flexible in your planned editorial schedule. For instance, a high-profile event in your community that necessitates your immediate response could interrupt a 2- or 3-month series of pieces that you planned to run in sequence. These situations also highlight the importance of nurturing the continuing relationship with the newspaper's staff as, when such events arise, you will feel comfortable contacting them as soon as possible to make arrangements for the piece. If you have shown responsibility and consistency in fulfilling your past editorial requirements, you should not have a problem securing the column space.

Once you have identified a topic of focus, you should immediately start thinking about an appropriate author to ask to write the companion piece to your editorial. Do you plan to write about your department's decision to place school resource officers in area high schools? A supportive piece from your school board president or parent-teacher organization representative would be appropriate. Do you want to address a serious increase in residential burglaries? Perhaps, a companion editorial from a local homeowner's insurance company or Neighborhood Watch group could address additional crime-prevention strategies. Is a major event coming to your community, one that will strain the limited resources of your department? You should seek companion editorials from other stakeholders, showcasing the cooperative efforts being undertaken in preparation for your delivery of coordinated services.

I have yet to be turned down when making these requests. Knowing that some people are more comfortable with writing than others, I always offer to write my editorial first, providing it to the companion author for review and critique. I then let the individual know that, if they wish, they may simply "piggyback" on what I have written. In my experience, nearly all companion authors, without me asking them to do so, have sent me their completed versions for similar editorial advice and input. This process nearly always results in having two editorials written closely in concert, complementing one another.

ENJOYING THE BENEFITS

Hopefully, your local newspaper will agree to provide you with sufficient column space to run a periodic pairing of editorials. If so, and you start actively planning your monthly editorial calendar, I believe you will quickly begin to experience benefits similar to the ones I have encountered.

Demonstration of Community Partnerships

When readers in your city, town, or county see an editorial authored by you with a supporting piece written by another stakeholder, it sends two concurrent, powerful messages. First, the public sees your awareness of the issue and that you cared enough to take the time to address it in a community forum. Second, through the pairing of an appropriate partner, they come to realize that their police department is not operating in a vacuum but, rather, actively working with others in the community to address issues and solve problems.

Improved Communication with Stakeholders

Another distinct advantage of employing this strategy is that, as you obtain the participation of your editorial partners, you are engaging a wide variety of community members. When you identify a topic of concern that needs to be addressed, the partner-editorial format forces you to think about others affected by the issue and who would be an appropriate partner to help focus on it. Through this engagement, you will find yourself talking with those members of the community whom you may have had little contact with in the past. Additionally, you will find that these stakeholders are usually flattered when asked to work with the police, resulting in enhanced relationships.

Protection from Unwarranted Criticism

Another significant benefit derived from the use of the partner editorial lies in the principle of "safety in numbers." When a police department works by itself or, perhaps, launches an initiative on its own, it may face criticism from those who ask why efforts are not being directed elsewhere. However, when you collaborate with other prominent individuals or organizations in your community and then present your plans with the visible support of these partners in the media, critics will prove less likely to attack.

Enhanced Perception

This strategy also provides you the opportunity to look ahead, identifying oncoming issues of public concern before they happen. When you address these issues in collaboration with a community partner, your citizens will see that you are working proactively with others to address upcoming problems, rather than just waiting to respond to the aftermath. This will further build the community's confidence in your leadership and enhance the professional reputation of your agency.

CONCLUSION

The use of the community partner editorial can present you with an effective method to build communication within your agency's jurisdiction and to enhance your department's reputation with the public. By and large, most people support their local police departments. As these citizens go about their daily lives, they want--and need--to believe that the officers in their communities have their best interests at heart. When they see their local police chief or sheriff actively collaborating with other stakeholders to address issues of community concern, it reaffirms for them that the police are living up to their mission and responsibilities. Likewise, they are more likely to feel that officers rightly have the public's trust.